Fascism is new buzz word among GOP

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060830/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_islamic_fascism

Fascism is new buzz word among GOP

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago

WASHINGTON -
President Bush in recent days has recast the global war on terror into a "war against Islamic fascism." Fascism, in fact, seems to be the new buzz word for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq.


Bush used the term earlier this month in talking about the arrest of suspected terrorists in Britain, and spoke of "Islamic fascists" in a later speech in Green Bay, Wis. Spokesman Tony Snow has used variations on the phrase at White House press briefings.

Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., in a tough re-election fight, drew parallels on Monday between World War II and the current war against "Islamic fascism," saying they both require fighting a common foe in multiple countries. It's a phrase Santorum has been using for months.

And Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday took it a step further in a speech to an American Legion convention in Salt Lake City, accusing critics of the administration's Iraq and anti-terrorism policies of trying to appease "a new type of fascism."......

[Eurobabe]

1. This is just too fucking rich...

Stop you're killing me, I can't stand it!!!

[rodeodance]

7. they are like kids with a new toy

[eccles12]

82. Someone should ask Bush to define fascism...unexpectedly of course.

i bet he would wet his pants.

[GalleryGod]

54. As a Poli Sci lecturer, about to enter Fall Term...I know what you mean

Karl ! You, Turdblossum ! Call Ari Gold! He can get us outta dis EYE-rac-key mess ! (gimmee another dinner roll!)

:puke: :argh: :puke:

[Kikosexy2]

78. Yes,....

we're well aware that Repiglicans are fascist scum and let's not make them forget it either...

[AJ9000]

86. It's called PROJECTION n/t

[aquart]

2. Seizing the word before it can (accurately) be used against them

By the time they're finished, fascist will have no meaning at all.

Government by PR.

[deacon]

14. Status quo for them- accuse what you are being accused of n/t

[M155Y_A1CH]

65. Time-honored GOP tradition, that

Next will be accusations of war profiteering and vote tampering. Why, it will seem as though the "damned liberals" have stolen everything that was not nailed down as well as being fascists.
LOL

[Dover]

18. Exactamundo. But everyone is wise to this game, don't you think?

My mechanic who is a redneck Republican laughingly talks about GOP-speak. He says you have to stand on your head to really understand it. BTW, he's NOT voting Republican anymore. Too many kids from his church have died for what he now sees as a worthless cause in Iraq. And he no longer trusts Bush and Cheney to lead the country. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see through the thin veil of their manipulations.

I'm guessing this isn't an isolated case.

[lumberjack_jeff]

84. Sadly, no.

Attack your enemies on their strengths, and/or attack them on your own weaknesses.

It's part of the Repug script.

[formercia]

24. been calling them fascists for years.

just like they tried hijacking patriotism.

[glitch]

55. That's it all right. nt

[nolabels]

68. They are over a half century late

Me thinks we should pick out a booby prize for them though, after all they did make an attempt :shrug:

[apnu]

90. yup, that's play #1 from Rove's book

They do that all the time, seize the word, phrase, or action that best describes themselves and direct it elsewhere. Ever notice how incredulous they get when accusing other people of doing the very thing that the GOP is openly and actively participating? Such as political pandering or 'big government'?

[aaronbees]

3. Pretty much supports

the theory that what BushCo accuses others of doing is what they themselves practice.

[KayLaw]

31. Yep!

That was my first thought. Typical RW projection.

[Skittles]

4. correct that mistake in you subject line please

change the word AMONG to MEANING

[rodeodance]

10. no dice. but good thought.

[skids]

5. rate it up.

Low vote count. We can amp it to 4+ stars easy.

[rodeodance]

6. AFP US is confronting a 'new facism', Rumsfeld says

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060829/pl_afp/usattackspolitics_060829190959

US is confronting a 'new facism', Rumsfeld says

Tue Aug 29, 3:09 PM ET

SALT LAKE CITY, United States (AFP) - The United States is fighting "a new type of facism," US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a veterans' group here.


"We face similar challenges in efforts to confront the rising of a new type of fascism," he said.

"And that is important in this 'long war' where any kind of moral and intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can weaken the ability of free societies to persevere," he said, taking aim at detractors of the US "war on terror".

The
Pentagon chief was echoing comments earlier this month by
President George W. Bush, after the British thwarted an alleged plot to bomb passenger jets heading for the United States, that the country was "at war with Islamic fascists".

Rumsfeld used the same terminology Monday when addressing a similar group in Reno, Nevada about the need to be patient in Iraq.......

[Kiouni]

8. wow, their trying to plug

themselves...thats cool now everyone do the bender.

[Pachamama]

9. What's that old saying: "Pot calling the Kettle black?"

So the Neo-Con Fascists are using the fascist label on everyone now?

Wonders never cease....

[Bobbieo]

11. When fascism comes to America,

it will be wrapped in a flag carrying a cross - Sinclair Lewis

[Pachamama]

77. "It can't happen here"....

Oh yes it can....and is!!! :scared:

Great Book and must read for all Americans!!!

[rodeodance]

12. LAT Rumsfeld Says Critics Appeasing Fascism

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-legion30aug30,1,7771477.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage

Rumsfeld Says Critics Appeasing Fascism
His comparison to those who mollified the Nazis draws a rebuke from opponents of war policy.

By Julian E. Barnes, Times Staff Writer
August 30, 2006

SALT LAKE CITY — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday compared critics of the Bush administration to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World War II, warning that the nation is confronting "a new type of fascism."

Speaking at the American Legion convention here, Rumsfeld delivered his most explicit and extended attacks yet on administration opponents — leading Democrats to accuse him of "campaigning on fear."

By likening today's U.S. foreign policy to that during World War II and the Cold War, Rumsfeld sought to portray skeptics of the Bush administration as being on the wrong side of history. He ridiculed American officials who had hoped to negotiate with Adolf Hitler.

"Once again, we face similar challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism," Rumsfeld said. "But some seem not to have learned history's lessons." ........

[Bobbieo]

15. Where did I read that Bush Sr.s father - Preston? - was one

the Americans who, at one time, tried to deal with Hitler? Kitty Kelly's book?

[hootinholler]

30. Tried? No, succeeded

He had assets siezed under the trading with the enemies act. Managed to bury that and get himself into the Senate, his son into the CIA, mentor Nixon, and, well, the rest is history.

-Hoot

[lfairban]

48. Prescott

According to:



Incidentally, this is the only source that could be found, including the national archives that list Prescott's brothers and sisters. It appeared at the time of our search that public records had be scrubbed.

he was born Prescott Sheldon Bush on May 15, 1895.

The Nazi connection is mentioned here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescott_Sheldon_Bush

You might be able to find additional information at the following pages, but I must apologize for the dead links as I have not worked on this page in some time.

http://home.columbus.rr.com/lfairban/Pages/Bush.html

http://home.columbus.rr.com/lfairban/Pages/History.htm

[AntiFascist]

71. hehe, I hope this backfires on them....

by Rumsfeld pointing out that there is fascism in the world, only brings to light his own history of enabling people like Saddam to be armed and have weapons of mass destruction. Going back further, there is Prescott Bush's key role in enabling the war machine behind Hitler. Where would fascism be without these people, and neoconservative gurus like Michael Ledeen who point to the positive aspects of an international fascism?

[underpants]

37. (Local news this morning) Rummy at the A.L. cut to shot of Hitler..

cut back to Rummy cut back to Hitler making speech

With the sound down that was what I saw standing there sipping on a cup of coffee. Too funny.

[deacon]

13. "If I'm one then SO ARE YOU!!!

and "Everything you say bounces off me and sticks to you!"

[krispos42]

16. Sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me!

So sorry, couldn't resist :rofl:

[Dover]

17. This word play is getting tiresome. Do they really think it works?

[krispos42]

19. fascism (noun) :

1. A political regime based on strong centralized government, suppressing through violence any criticism or opposition of the regime, and exalting nation, state, or religion above the individual.

2. A system of strong autocracy

autocracy (noun):

1. form of government in which unlimited power is held by a single individual

From Wikipedia:

Merriam-Webster defines fascism as "a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition"<2>.

A recent definition is that by Robert O. Paxton:

"Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victim-hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion." <3>

Essentially, you can't be a fascist unless you have a country and an economy. The Islamic fundamentalists attack us because they want us out of the Middle East. They reject our secular ways because they fear Muslims losing their religion to Western fashion, gadgets, music, clothes, and vices. And because they want revenge for what we have done to the region and the religion.

The type of government they advocate is fundamentalist in nature, even if it representative/parlimentary. Iran is an Islamic Republic; Ahmedinejad (or however you spell it) was elected in free and open elections. No revolution, no vote-fixing. He and Bush are definitive proof that democracies can still elect religious nutjobs.

[xchrom]

20. ok -- this is a phrase taken from talk-radio.

rush and crew have been using this phrase for upwards of a year.

and yes they are trying to re-energise the war in the minds of the american people.

casting it in wwII hyperbole.

and they are taking rove's cue to run on the war -- and it will have some
positve effect for them.

the queston isn't the phrase -- the question is can the democratic party make them wear it with shame
through aggressive campaigning of their own.

[Kolesar]

21. A long-running campaign to make the Dems look hostile to the military

All those stories about "protestors spitting on the soldiers", "selling out Europe at Potsdam", "withdrawing from Vietnam and leaving POWs behind", are a comprehensive Republican misinformation campaign. Add to that the "cut and run" verbiage and "Islamo fascism" for the 21st century.

[Cobalt Violet]

22. Always trying to pervert the language.

They are the fascist.

[zanne]

38. They want to rob us of our language...

The same way they robbed us of democracy.

[annabanana]

23. Them as smelt it, delt it.

that is all

[sattahipdeep]

25. Scared Rumsfeld

"A highwayman is as much a robber when he
plunders in a gang as when single; and a
nation that makes an unjust war is only a
great gang." --Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790), Father of the American Constitution

"Never think that war, no matter how
necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime."
--Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

"It is my conviction that killing under the cloak
of war is nothing but an act of murder." --Albert
Einstein (1879-1955)

Can a democracy turn fascist and militaristic?

In the first instance, the U.S. participated in
establishing the Nuremberg standard of international
criminal justice, which states that it is a war crime to
launch a war of aggression. This was the charge that
the chief U.S. prosecutor, Justice Robert H. Jackson
(1892-1954), brought against German Nazi leaders
at the Nuremberg trials. As Justice Jackson put it:
"We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong
for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that
they lost the war, but that they started it."

Moreover, the 1996 U.S. War Crimes Act (U.S. Code
Section 2441) also bans any American, including
government officials, from committing war crimes,
and punishments for violators include the death
penalty. What's more, this American law has no
statute of limitations.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1085.shtml

....
Similar crimes by other dictators might be discouraged or deterred
in future. The process of justice through law, on which the safety
of humankind depends, would be reinforced."
....
But on May 6, 2002--less than a year before the invasion of Iraq--the
Bush administration withdrew the United States' signature on the
treaty and began pressuring other countries to approve bilateral
agreements requiring them not to surrender U.S. nationals to the ICC.
....
Three months later, George W. Bush signed a new law prohibiting any
U.S. cooperation with the International Criminal Court.

The law went so far as to include a provision authorizing the president
to "use all means necessary and appropriate," including a military invasion
of the Netherlands, to free U.S. personnel detained or imprisoned by the ICC.

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/138319/1/

[Senator]

26. Fascism = Authoritarianism = Monarchism = Theocracy = (Dittoheadism)

Fascism -- authoritarianism -- monarchism -- theocracy -- it's all the same thing.

A belief that some minority has the right to rule the majority. It matters little if it's the true believers, a master race, a family dynasty, the chosen people, a ruling class, or the current DC/Euphemedia Analstocracy.

It's all anti-democratic, thus Anti-American*.

John Dean is tragically wrong when he says this menace is "close." This nation now lives under an appointed ruler (not an elected leader) who rules by signing statement. You can call it "technical" or "virtual" but it's still fascism.

This is what the stolen election of 2000 was all about. There was zero attention paid to the Will of the People of Florida and the nation. The result of the vote (not the vote count**) was well known shortly after the election when the uncounted ballots were extrapolated by precinct, and Gore won FL by tens of thousands. Any ethical, moral, real American would have conceded to Gore at that point.

The contract generally known as the US Constitution was put into breach on January 6th, 2001. This is the "original sin" that must be remedied. It is the essence of our ongoing nightmare.

It was this overruling of the will of the (former) American People that left us open to the 9-11 attack, which was a far less important event compared with the election theft. It simply allowed the 21st Century Neo-Fascists to have their "Reichstag fire" to consolitdate control.

The more important part was that the only global force for good in the past several decades -- the public opinion of the American People -- was taken out of the global, moral equation. Which is why prior to the election theft we could stop plane-crashing over the Pacific at the Millenium with help from Jordanian Intelligence, and after... well, not so much. We had lost our moral ascendency, our place as the court of last resort.

Certainly this is a "kinder, gentler" fascism. But did you expect goose-stepping, tanks in the streets and racial hate speech? It's much more efficient to simply scream "Mushroom clouds in 45 minutes!!" through every Euphemedia outlet in order to terrorize a population into compliance (20 guys with boxcutters pales in comparision, doesn't it?).

But make no mistake, it is fascism pure and simple.

It demands active opposition. Unlike their agents in congress, the American People are not impotent. We can still refuse to be complicit with the atrocities committed in our name.

But we must do so loudly -- at every opportunity, in large and small ways -- and in ways that make others uncomfortable.

We need impeachment to Redeem Our National Soul.

How do we get it? "Violence" is the answer.

_________
*"After Socialism, Fascism combats the whole complex system of democratic ideology, and repudiates it, whether in its theoretical premises or in its practical application. Fascism denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority, can direct human society" - Benito Mussolini 1932

**"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decided everything." -- Josef Stalin (echoed by Pol Pot, Bushes, Scalia, Rehnquist, Baker, Harris, Blackwell, etc...)

--
www.january6th.org

[area51]

59. Great post, Senator. (n/t)

[AntiFascist]

72. Excellent! "Anti-Democracy" is the key to understanding Bush politics...

How many different ways has this administration attacked democracy for the benefit of their corporate interests? Stealing elections, wiretapping, waging illegal war, using the war as an excuse, stomping on the constitution, hijacking a terrorist catastrophe, turning their backs on ravaged poor people, turning the entire world against this "shining city on a hill", bankrupting the nation....its totally mind-boggling!

[Imperialism Inc.]

27. They are people with a plan to take over the world and

and eliminate everybody except them," Black said.

Is this true? I have never heard a terrorist group say this. I think they would like to take over Muslim countries but I don't think they are interested in the West. I guess maybe if they were successful in the Muslim countries we might be next but it seems to be stretching things a bit. It plays in to the whole "They hate us for our freedoms bit" which is a load. They hate us because we support oppression of Muslims where ever it suits our purposes (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia); for our role in backing Israel and making sure they are not held to the standards of International law with regards to their illegal occupation. But not because they want to take over the world.

[krispos42]

88. They can say they want to take over the world all they want

They can't. No one ever has, and no one ever will.

What the Muslims want, and this is the same thing the Christians want, is for everybody to convert. Both religions have an ultimate vision of spreading across the planet. Neither one will ultimately do it. Ever.

What terrorists and fundamentalists want, in the near term, is for us to stop fucking with their internal and regional politcs. They also want to keep secular western values from weakening their religion. But what they really want is for us to give them wads of cash in exchange for barrels of oil, and they import some grain and high-tech machinery and electronics that they can't make themselves.

[eShirl]

28. The fascism-appeasers are those who aid & abet this admin's power grab

and theft of our constitutional freedoms.

[hootinholler]

29. Pre-emptive definition....

They want to remove the term from its meaning when Democrats use the term to describe them.

-Hoot

[CrispyQ]

44. "Pre-emptive definition...."

Excellent!!

:rofl:


k&r

on edit: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0828-23.htm

Reclaiming The Issues: Islamic Or Republican Fascism?
Thom Hartmann

snip...

Vice President Wallace's answers to those questions were published in The New York Times on April 9, 1944, at the height of the war against the Axis powers of Germany and Japan:

"The really dangerous American fascists," Wallace wrote, "are not those who are hooked up directly or indirectly with the Axis. The FBI has its finger on those. The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power."

In this, Vice President Wallace was using the classic definition of the word "fascist" - the definition Mussolini had in mind when he claimed to have invented the word. (It was actually Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile who wrote the entry in the Encyclopedia Italiana that said: "Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." Mussolini, however, affixed his name to the entry, and claimed credit for it.)

As the 1983 American Heritage Dictionary noted, fascism is: "A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism." (The US dictionary definition has gotten somewhat squishier since then, as all the larger dictionary companies have been bought up by multinational corporations.)

Mussolini was quite straightforward about all this. In a 1923 pamphlet titled "The Doctrine of Fascism" he wrote, "If classical liberalism spells individualism, Fascism spells government." But not a government of, by, and for We The People - instead, it would be a government of, by, and for the most powerful corporate interests in the nation.

[hootinholler]

50. I was trying to name a tactic

One I've observed being used again and again by the republics.

Glad I made you laugh.

-Hoot

[fshrink]

45. Yep. PR 101.

[fshrink]

46. Neo-nazi still works though.

[chat_noir]

32. Fascists R US

[Olney Blue]

33. Unbelievable- they really have contempt for our intelligence.

[Kber]

34. Hello. Mr Kettle?

There's a Mr. Pot on line one for you with an important call.

[radfringe]

35. so tell me

what's the difference between Islamic fascism and Repug fascism?

what's the difference between a terrorist who makes threats and a repub who threatens us with terrorists?

[hootinholler]

49. That's a great toon dude!

Right to the point and one of your better efforts.

-Hoot

[ckramer]

36. I'm going to invent a new buzz word ==> Republicofascism

How's that sound?

[ananda]

39. Classic projection!

The GOP need to look at their own fascism, the theocratic kind and most of all the corporate kind... hard.

[bdamomma]

40. I wish they would just come out and say it

that our country is marching towards fascism.

[underpants]

41. No it isn't they been doing this for years

oh I see the fact that their are letting that word pass their lips in PUBLIC is the new part. mmmkay :crazy:

[progressoid]

42. Pot meet Kettle...Kettle...Pot

[Vinca]

43. The Republicans are truly a dimwitted bunch.

Would they single out one of their own sects and attach "fascist" to it? Has it occurred to them every Islamic-American will be racing to the voting booth to vote for a Democrat?

[GalleryGod]

56. As Big Time Cheney would say

:puke: Hey, Go F%ck Yourself ! :puke:

"Plain spoken,he is !"

[yodermon]

47. Well, here we go:

Huey Long once said, "Fascism will come to America in the name of anti-fascism".

[goodhue]

51. And isn't it ironic...

dontcha think

[yellowcanine]

52. "Fox smells his own hole", my brother used to say when fart accusations

were flying.

[Mountainman]

53. So now it is the Christian fascists scaring us about the Islamic fascists

[genieroze]

57. Check this out.

fas‧cism  /ˈfæʃɪzəm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=fascism&x=19&y=17

check out the related ads for this search

Related ads:

* American Imperialism
* Impeach George Bush
* Democracy
* Noam Chomsky
* Bush Iraq War

When you type in a search for a word it gives you related ads to the word.

Now chimpinator, who is a fascist?

[cascadiance]

58. Up is down, down is up!

Bush says we're trying to spread Democracy, when in reality he's tearing it down.
He then says he's trying to fight fascism, when in fact he's trying to set it up here.

Up is down, down is up!

[Akoto]

60. As the wise Colbert once said ...

"I can't prove it, but I can say it!"

[dave123williams]

61. Methinks they're PROJECTING a little bit.

[Ilsa]

62. These GOP- Fascism threads need to reference that site with the

characteristics of Fascism:

Aaaackkkk... I can't get the site to load:
http://csf.colorado.edu/envtecsoc/2003/msg00700.html
Soes someone have another site?


The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos,
slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen
everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
TOP

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in
fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in
certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other
way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations,
long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. TOP

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause -
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need
to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or
religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists,
etc. TOP

4. Supremacy of the Military -
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is
given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the
domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are
glamorized. TOP

5. Rampant Sexism -
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-
dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made
more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homo-sexuality are suppressed and
the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family
institution. TOP

6. Controlled Mass Media -
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in
other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government
regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives.
Censorship, especially in war time, is very common. TOP

7. Obsession with National Security -
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the
masses. TOP

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined -
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion
in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious
rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when
the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the
government's policies or actions. TOP

9. Corporate Power is Protected -
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are
the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a
mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
TOP

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a
fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or
are severely suppressed. TOP

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher
education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other
academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the
arts and letters is openly attacked. TOP

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to
enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses
and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is
often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in
fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and
associates who appoint each other to government positions and use
governmental power and authority to protect their friends from
accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national
resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright
stolen by government leaders. TOP

14. Fraudulent Elections -
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other
times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even
assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control
voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of
the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to
manipulate or control elections.

[Ilsa]

66. Here's a link from another thread:

http://www.ellensplace.net/fascism.html

[IronLionZion]

63. not just a buzz word, soon it will be official policy

Rove likes to spin the GOP's weaknesses and swiftboat their opponents' strengths. That's how a wealthy dumbass who went awol can become a a decisive president who is a real salt of the earth guy.

[OregonDem]

64. They've been trying to detach themselves from that word for a long time

Remember how they keep trying to say fascist are liberals because it is called National Socialism? Yeah right like the left wants a militarily aggressive police state that burns books and throws communists, gays, minorities, and jews into concentration camps. Now there trying to say that Islamic fundamentalists that want theocracy are fascists but not Christan fundamentalists who want the same thing (just a different God).

Message to the GOP:
Look in the mirror if you want to find fascists.

[Qutzupalotl]

67. You can't fight fascism with fascism. nt

[PATRICK]

69. Repeating their post WWII success

Most Americans and the democratic government mainstream wanted to quietly move along, but if you try to google about "fifth columnists" or fascists in America at that time you would not get the corporate GOP backers of Hitler and Japan, not even ex-Bund members. You would get the term applied exclusively to communists transitioned from totalitarianism, then transitioned of course to closet communists agents, socialists, liberals and Democrats. In short, they never met a derogatory term they didn't like and couldn't use even if it applied totally to themselves. And the principle of deflection is so important if the great work of the extreme RW is to continue.

And they have been getting away with although so egregiously as now, because that shoe HAS been put on their foot and it has sunk in from a public weary with THEIR aggressive war and totalitarian removal of liberties.

We have put the golden, swastika emblazoned slipper on our homegrown Cinderella, and it fits.

[killbotfactory]

70. do they even know what it means?

[Massachusetts]

73. Fck the GOP wingnuts and anyone else including

Politicians or MSM Television or Radio, that continues to "play" with the truth for nothing more than propaganda purposes (I know I'm preaching to the choir here).


"I have often thought that if a rational Fascist dictatorship were to exist, then it would choose the American system."
Noam Chomsky

[Cha]

74. That's what they do..fascism. Are

they admitting it? Didn't think so. The repukes are all about attacking someone else for what they do..the Dems should throw the meaning of fascism back in their collective pig faces(sorry pigs).

"1) often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition."

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/fascism

[coalition_unwilling]

75. Talk about your projection. Jeesh (n/t)

[daleo]

76. They are always trying to revive WWII memes

If they have to invert reality, so much the better from their point of view.

[AusTexDem]

79. Ok boys and girls you know what to do don't you?

[Anakin Skywalker]

80. Takes One To Know One, Rethugs!

[JerseygirlCT]

81. Typical Rove move --

attacking your opponents strengths.

They're the fascists and they know it, so by doing this, they hope to innoculate themselves. Sure hope people don't fall for it this go round.

[Guaranteed]

83. Because we haven't been using it enough to define it.

Dammit. When will our leaders begin to understand and act on the importance of language in politics?

[Kurovski]

85. It's no mistake...

the bastards have heard the increasing voices in America call them by the name of "fascist", because, well...that's what they are. It becomes more clear with each passing week.

They hope to both confuse the issue and once again--as always--engage in projection.

Something that we should remember is that projection is not only an unconscious reaction, but is also a tool consciously used by liars.

[tavalon]

87. It's the Rovian thing

Figure out your opposition's greatest strength and then attack them on it. Our greatest potential strength is that we know that they are fascist. We could call them on it, loud and clear. They know this so they are trying to pre-empt us and make it look like anybody but they are fascists. Throw the word around enough, it dilutes it and presto, no more strength on our side.

Same ol', same ol'. I just wish it didn't work so consistently well.

[BlueEyedSon]

89. Or, figure your own weakness and tar your opponents with it!

[apnu]

91. It works well because...

... the Democratic Party is ponderiously slow picking up on these things. Sure we here in the wilds jump on this stuff, but the damn DLC moves like a wounded mastadon then gets all pissy when we bitch at them about thier poor responses to the GOP.

I hate the DLC, its like they want to be a minority party. It seems to me that scraps from the GOP table suits them fine.